Joshua 17 NCV

1. Then land was given to the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s first son. Manasseh’s first son was Makir, the father of Gilead. Makir was a great soldier, so the lands of Gilead and Bashan were given to his family.

2. Land was also given to the other family groups of Manasseh—Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were all the other sons of Manasseh son of Joseph.

3. Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, who was the son of Gilead, who was the son of Makir, who was the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad had no sons, but he had five daughters, named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4. They went to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and all the leaders. They said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land like the men received.” So Eleazar obeyed the Lord and gave the daughters some land, just like the brothers of their father.

5. So the tribe of Manasseh had ten sections of land west of the Jordan River and two more sections, Gilead and Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan River.

6. The daughters of Manasseh received land just as the sons did. Gilead was given to the rest of the families of Manasseh.

7. The lands of Manasseh were in the area between Asher and Micmethath, near Shechem. The border went south to the En Tappuah area,

8. which belonged to Manasseh, except for the town of Tappuah. It was along the border of Manasseh’s land and belonged to the sons of Ephraim.

9. The border of Manasseh continued south to Kanah Ravine. The cities in this area of Manasseh belonged to Ephraim. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the ravine and went to the sea.

10. The land to the south belonged to Ephraim, and the land to the north belonged to Manasseh. The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. The border touched Asher’s land on the north and Issachar’s land on the east.

11. In the areas of Issachar and Asher, the people of Manasseh owned these towns: Beth Shan and its small towns; Ibleam and its small towns; the people who lived in Dor and its small towns; the people in Naphoth Dor and its small towns; the people who lived in Taanach and its small towns; the people in Megiddo and its small towns.

12. Manasseh was not able to defeat those cities, so the Canaanites continued to live there.

13. When the Israelites grew strong, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, although they did not force them to leave the land.

14. The people from the tribes of Joseph said to Joshua, “You gave us only one area of land, but we are many people. Why did you give us only one part of all the land the Lord gave his people?”

15. And Joshua answered them, “If you have too many people, go up to the forest and make a place for yourselves to live there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaites. The mountain country of Ephraim is too small for you.”

16. The people of Joseph said, “It is true. The mountain country of Ephraim is not enough for us, but the land where the Canaanites live is dangerous. They are skilled fighters. They have powerful weapons in Beth Shan and all the small towns in that area, and they are also in the Valley of Jezreel.”

17. Then Joshua said to the people of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh, “There are many of you, and you have great power. You should be given more than one share of land.

18. You also will have the mountain country. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. You will own all of it because you will force the Canaanites to leave the land even though they have powerful weapons and are strong.”